In 2026, the correction in lithium carbonate prices drove up lithium battery production costs. Coupled with uncertainties in lithium resources supply, cost pressure across the new energy industry became increasingly prominent. Leveraging the advantages of abundant sodium resources, balanced distribution, and controllable costs, sodium-ion batteries have leapt from being a “backup option” for lithium batteries to a key direction for industry breakthrough...

【10,000 Tons of LFP Cathode Material Recycling Project Launched in Jiangxi】 Recently, the People's Government of Le'an County, Jiangxi Province, issued the first public notice for the environmental impact assessment of a project involving the expansion of an LFP cathode material recycling line and the construction of a new sodium-ion battery cathode material production line. The project is expected to achieve an annual recycling capacity of 10,000 tons of LFP cathode materials. Concurrently, a new sodium-ion battery cathode material production line will be established to advance R&D and manufacturing in this field, with an annual capacity of 200 tons.

【SMM Analysis】Recycling Industry Events This Week (Jun. 9-13): This week's recycling industry events.

[Le'an County Annual Recycling of 10,000 mt LFP Cathode Material Project] On [date], the People's Government of Le'an County, Jiangxi Province, issued the first public announcement on the environmental impact assessment report for the "Renovation and Expansion of the LFP Cathode Material Recycling Production Line and Construction of a New Sodium-ion Battery Cathode Material Production Line" project by Jiangxi Weibang Material Technology Co., Ltd. This initiative brings new opportunities for the development of the local new energy industry. The project will ultimately achieve an annual recycling capacity of 10,000 mt of LFP cathode material. Meanwhile, a new sodium-ion battery cathode material production line will be constructed on the existing factory site to facilitate research and production of sodium-ion battery cathode materials, with an annual capacity of 200 mt.

Currently, with the global energy transition and the booming market of new energy vehicles (NEVs), sodium-ion batteries, as an emerging technology, are gradually attracting significant attention from the industry. Against this backdrop, traditional lithium battery cathode and battery cell enterprises are launching their own new sodium-ion battery products, while sodium-ion battery startups are accelerating the industrialisation process. This trend indicates that the sodium-ion battery industry chain is maturing rapidly, and the divergence in technological approaches is becoming increasingly pronounced. From the perspective of product demonstration, sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) is emerging as the mainstream cathode material direction. This material boasts advantages such as good structural stability, high reversible specific capacity, and long cycle life, thus offering broad application prospects in the preparation of sodium-ion batteries. Multiple enterprises have initially developed sodium-ion battery products using NFPP cathode materials, which have found small-scale demonstration applications in fields such as energy storage for power supply base stations, e-bikes, and data centers.

Currently, traditional lithium battery cathode and battery cell manufacturers have launched their own new sodium-ion battery products, and sodium-ion battery startups are accelerating the implementation of industrialisation. The sodium-ion battery industry chain is maturing rapidly, with significant differentiation in technological approaches. From the perspective of product displays, sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) is emerging as the mainstream cathode material direction. Moreover, new high-performance products are continuously being introduced, and the sodium-ion battery industry chain is maturing at an accelerated pace, with increasingly pronounced differentiation in process routes.